The Unidos em Defesa de Covas do Barroso (UDCB) association asked this Friday the Ministry of State (MP) to “immediately” suspend the license granted to Savannah for lithium exploration and the ongoing exploration in Boticas.
“In the name of public interest and the rule of law, [a associação] demands that the administrative authorities immediately suspend the license and calls on the deputy, given the seriousness of the facts, to suspend the license and geological exploration work,” the UCDB said.
The reaction of the association created to fight mining in Boticas, Vila Real district, follows an operation by powerful individuals that led to the resignation of Prime Minister António Costa.
This process targets lithium exploration concessions in Montalegre and Boticas, both in Vila Real, a project for the production of energy from hydrogen in Sines, Setúbal, and the construction project of a “data center” in Industrial and Sines Logistics by Start Campus.
The Barroso mine was the first lithium project in Portugal to receive a favorable Environmental Impact Declaration (DIA), albeit subject to compensatory and mitigation measures.
The association also called on the MP to “investigate the usurpation of vacant and private lands through the abuse of BUPI (a new digital platform that allows land mapping) and fraudulent registrations that benefit the mining company and the project in question.”
The UDCB recalled that three separate cases related to the Barroso mine are already in court.
This week, Boticas Chamber President Fernando Queiroga said the municipality was also finalizing its challenge to the continuity of the Barroso mine.
The first legal action was filed by the parish council of Covas do Barroso for the cancellation of the prospecting and exploration license “on the basis of a change in the territory and purpose of the original license issued in 2006, as well as subsequent changes in the object of the contract and license to which lithium is added.”
The second lawsuit was filed by the Comunidade de Baldios de Covas do Barroso against Savannah and individuals and seeks restitution of land allegedly “usurped” by the company.
More recently, the same council took administrative action against the Portuguese Environment Agency’s (APA) decision to make the Barroso mine viable.
The UDCB said the Barroso mine’s environmental assessment process was guided by “a lack of transparency on the part of the APA, which was recently condemned for failing to provide information to the Covas do Barroso junta.”
“This is not the first time that the APA has been reprimanded and condemned for refusing or ignoring requests for access to information that should be in the public domain,” he recalled, noting that “after several reprimands and convictions, the case against Portugal in the Committee on compliance with the Aarhus Convention due to the lack of respect for the right of access to environmental information in this process.”
The association said the project’s EIA was declared “non-compliant” twice in 2020 and that even “after these wording changes, the EIA received an ‘unfavorable’ finding in June 2022 and the company was given another opportunity to restate the EIA.” project under “a new legal regime approved earlier this year designed to “streamline” environmental impact assessment processes.”
“UDCB has always maintained that both the license and the positive APA were granted without any justification and the findings now made by the MP have proven us right. “Deep violations of the law that irreparably undermine the license that the company used,” he emphasized.
After the operation, Prime Minister Antonio Costa demanded the resignation of the president of the republic, who on Thursday announced the dissolution of parliament and the appointment of early elections for March 10.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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